So I was still worrying about the stupid stop work order on my windows yesterday when the company that did the install called me. It turns out the dumb ass city inspector had the WRONG ADDRESS. It's a good thing he's a city inspector since he can't even find the right fucking street.
The good news is there's no problem with my windows. They passed the city inspection today.
Hopefully this will mark a turning point in the oddly bad string of luck I've had this week.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Thursday, May 6, 2010
long loca story
Today the window guys showed up at 7 am to try to finish putting all of my windows in before I had to leave at 1245 to catch my shuttle.
Things were cranking along nicely, and I had gotten out of my funk and was working on something, when a cranky contractor came by and started yelling at my window installers for putting in vinyl windows.
A word on my windows. I bought the best window on the market. Vinyl, I know, has a shitty sound to it, but they actually look just like my neighbors' windows because there is so much wood around them (they replaced the wooden frame things and you can barely see any of the whatever that border thing is around the windows). And from an environmental perspective, they are better than wood windows. I should also note that I only found one contractor that could build from wood the windows for my house. He said it would take 6 weeks, and the front window priced in at $5,000. Yikes.
About a half hour later, an inspector showed up with a stop work order (still taped to my front window) and said they hadn't pulled a permit. I double checked with the office, who double checked with the city, who said that no permit was needed. My installer said in the 17 years he's been doing this he's never had that happen. Also, the city inspector gave a stop work order but told them to keep installing the windows.
I read the stop work order. It said I could get a $999 fine and 30 days in jail. Great.
My shuttle was 1/2 hour late picking me up at the airport. Then I got the security full monty because I booked a ticket to the UAE less than 24 hours before flying. Ech.
When it seemed things were finally going to be okay, even though I had to spend the entire two hour flight from Denver to Chicago sitting next to two obnoxious 10 year old girls, I started to relax.
But then, when we landed, our gate wasn't open so we had to sit on the runway for 10 minutes. The girls next to me kept standing up and the stewardess was screaming at them to put their seat belts on. We got to the gate but the jet way wouldn't extend, so we were stuck on the plane for another 20 minutes waiting for them to fix it.
Tick tock, tick tock.
As we waited I heard a woman behind me saying she was going to Dhabi. I told her I was too, and she asked me to run ahead (we only had an hour til our flight took off at this point) and tell them she was coming (she's a slow walker).
I had to take a train to the international terminal and it took forever for the train to come. Then I had to run (and I did run) to the check in desk because I didn't have a ticket (since I booked my flight less than 24 hours before take off I couldn't check in online). They were announcing the boarding as I was running to the desk.
They couldn't hold the plane, and they couldn't get our luggage off the plane (mine and the woman I met on the flight, Espie). So they booked Espie and I on tomorrow's 830 PM flight (total suck, get in at 8 pm, have to be at a meeting the next morning at 7 am). Then Espie and I were given vouchers for a hotel. We shuffled off, sans luggage, to find the free shuttle to the hotel.
We just got back from dinner, which was a nice experience. Dr. Espie (she's a phd!) and I had a lot of things in common. She is of Mexican origin and she is going to invite me to a dinner that she throws for her female emirati students and she's going to make real corn tortillas from scratch. She said she wants to read my book when it's done.
Her dad left her mom when she was young and her mom raised 6 girls by herself working even though she didn't speak english. And Espie ended up with a phd from Berkeley. She told me this story at dinner about how she was in a workshop and one of the guys said "we're all here because we've had such privileged educations". That made Dr. Espie cry because she was always put in vocational classes because people thought that because she was the child of an immigrant from mexico she must be stupid and they lived in a pretty shit part of LA. She never finished high school but then had an opportunity to go to college and then she ended up in fucking Berkeley, which, not to be biased, is one of the best universities in the world. Very cool.
I told Dr. Espie that I found her inspiring, and she laughed. She said she found it inspiring that I was writing a book about my injury and subsequent athletic adventures. Then she said "we have a word for people like you in our culture - loca".
If I'm crazy, it's because of my travel schedule, and life in general. And people wonder why I drink.
Things were cranking along nicely, and I had gotten out of my funk and was working on something, when a cranky contractor came by and started yelling at my window installers for putting in vinyl windows.
A word on my windows. I bought the best window on the market. Vinyl, I know, has a shitty sound to it, but they actually look just like my neighbors' windows because there is so much wood around them (they replaced the wooden frame things and you can barely see any of the whatever that border thing is around the windows). And from an environmental perspective, they are better than wood windows. I should also note that I only found one contractor that could build from wood the windows for my house. He said it would take 6 weeks, and the front window priced in at $5,000. Yikes.
About a half hour later, an inspector showed up with a stop work order (still taped to my front window) and said they hadn't pulled a permit. I double checked with the office, who double checked with the city, who said that no permit was needed. My installer said in the 17 years he's been doing this he's never had that happen. Also, the city inspector gave a stop work order but told them to keep installing the windows.
I read the stop work order. It said I could get a $999 fine and 30 days in jail. Great.
My shuttle was 1/2 hour late picking me up at the airport. Then I got the security full monty because I booked a ticket to the UAE less than 24 hours before flying. Ech.
When it seemed things were finally going to be okay, even though I had to spend the entire two hour flight from Denver to Chicago sitting next to two obnoxious 10 year old girls, I started to relax.
But then, when we landed, our gate wasn't open so we had to sit on the runway for 10 minutes. The girls next to me kept standing up and the stewardess was screaming at them to put their seat belts on. We got to the gate but the jet way wouldn't extend, so we were stuck on the plane for another 20 minutes waiting for them to fix it.
Tick tock, tick tock.
As we waited I heard a woman behind me saying she was going to Dhabi. I told her I was too, and she asked me to run ahead (we only had an hour til our flight took off at this point) and tell them she was coming (she's a slow walker).
I had to take a train to the international terminal and it took forever for the train to come. Then I had to run (and I did run) to the check in desk because I didn't have a ticket (since I booked my flight less than 24 hours before take off I couldn't check in online). They were announcing the boarding as I was running to the desk.
They couldn't hold the plane, and they couldn't get our luggage off the plane (mine and the woman I met on the flight, Espie). So they booked Espie and I on tomorrow's 830 PM flight (total suck, get in at 8 pm, have to be at a meeting the next morning at 7 am). Then Espie and I were given vouchers for a hotel. We shuffled off, sans luggage, to find the free shuttle to the hotel.
We just got back from dinner, which was a nice experience. Dr. Espie (she's a phd!) and I had a lot of things in common. She is of Mexican origin and she is going to invite me to a dinner that she throws for her female emirati students and she's going to make real corn tortillas from scratch. She said she wants to read my book when it's done.
Her dad left her mom when she was young and her mom raised 6 girls by herself working even though she didn't speak english. And Espie ended up with a phd from Berkeley. She told me this story at dinner about how she was in a workshop and one of the guys said "we're all here because we've had such privileged educations". That made Dr. Espie cry because she was always put in vocational classes because people thought that because she was the child of an immigrant from mexico she must be stupid and they lived in a pretty shit part of LA. She never finished high school but then had an opportunity to go to college and then she ended up in fucking Berkeley, which, not to be biased, is one of the best universities in the world. Very cool.
I told Dr. Espie that I found her inspiring, and she laughed. She said she found it inspiring that I was writing a book about my injury and subsequent athletic adventures. Then she said "we have a word for people like you in our culture - loca".
If I'm crazy, it's because of my travel schedule, and life in general. And people wonder why I drink.
travel days
I really dislike days like today, where I'm traveling in the middle of the day. I have to leave for the airport at 1 PM and I feel like I should run around and get things done before I leave, but at the same time I don't feel like doing anything.
I started trying to weed my yard at 630 this morning (couldn't sleep) but that didn't go very well. I've been doing laundry. Trying to stay out of the way of the guys who are finishing my windows (only 3 more to go and they might even be done before I have to leave for the airport).
I can't check in on my flight and reserve a seat because I booked my ticket less than 24 hours before flying. I'm stressing, even though there's no point, because it's a 14 hour flight and I don't want to be stuck in a horrible seat. Please let there be no screaming babies on the flight.
Maybe I'll go out and try to finish my yard. Or maybe I'll just sit here. Stupid long flights. I wish it was over.
The good news is, I was texting with my friend Ireland this morning and she's booking a flights for us to go to Beirut next weekend.
I started trying to weed my yard at 630 this morning (couldn't sleep) but that didn't go very well. I've been doing laundry. Trying to stay out of the way of the guys who are finishing my windows (only 3 more to go and they might even be done before I have to leave for the airport).
I can't check in on my flight and reserve a seat because I booked my ticket less than 24 hours before flying. I'm stressing, even though there's no point, because it's a 14 hour flight and I don't want to be stuck in a horrible seat. Please let there be no screaming babies on the flight.
Maybe I'll go out and try to finish my yard. Or maybe I'll just sit here. Stupid long flights. I wish it was over.
The good news is, I was texting with my friend Ireland this morning and she's booking a flights for us to go to Beirut next weekend.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
private life
A friend (or should I say "friend") who lived in my house for a while came by to drop off the key and garage door opener I had given him. He's a guy I've known, or thought I knew, for the past 7 years.
I found out a few weeks ago from a mutual acquaintance that my friend was married but had recently divorced. I was shocked that he had never told me. In fact, one evening while we were having dinner I asked him about a wedding ring he was wearing and he said "it's on the wrong hand". Hm.
So yesterday we chatted for a while, and then I asked him point blank why he had never told me he was married. He said "I did tell you!" and I was like I don't think so dude. I hate it when men do that shit, like I can't remember shit. Then he said "I like to keep my personal life private".
Right, dude. You lived in my house, we used to hang out with each other, and you don't want to tell me you're married because you're protecting your privacy? That's the stupidest fucking thing I've ever heard. Then he said he knew his marriage was going to end in divorce before it even started so there was no point in telling people he was married because then he would just have to tell them he was getting a divorce. He also said he didn't lie to me about the wedding ring, that he never wore one.
Guys like him never do. Or they wear it somewhere where it isn't obvious that it's a wedding ring. And then they ask you out on a date.
I really don't understand what the fuck is happening with people. Maybe I just know only retarded guys with no morale grounding. I was talking to my friend Neil and he said that he thinks there are no good role models for guys, so the ones from my generation and younger grow up with stupid ideas of how to act in a relationship and how to treat women. Yes there are some decent guys out there, but it seems I should know more of those types of guys than the bad types of guys. And I don't.
Oh well. I'm spending the next few months on my book and don't have time to worry about the idiot guys I know, or don't really know.
I found out a few weeks ago from a mutual acquaintance that my friend was married but had recently divorced. I was shocked that he had never told me. In fact, one evening while we were having dinner I asked him about a wedding ring he was wearing and he said "it's on the wrong hand". Hm.
So yesterday we chatted for a while, and then I asked him point blank why he had never told me he was married. He said "I did tell you!" and I was like I don't think so dude. I hate it when men do that shit, like I can't remember shit. Then he said "I like to keep my personal life private".
Right, dude. You lived in my house, we used to hang out with each other, and you don't want to tell me you're married because you're protecting your privacy? That's the stupidest fucking thing I've ever heard. Then he said he knew his marriage was going to end in divorce before it even started so there was no point in telling people he was married because then he would just have to tell them he was getting a divorce. He also said he didn't lie to me about the wedding ring, that he never wore one.
Guys like him never do. Or they wear it somewhere where it isn't obvious that it's a wedding ring. And then they ask you out on a date.
I really don't understand what the fuck is happening with people. Maybe I just know only retarded guys with no morale grounding. I was talking to my friend Neil and he said that he thinks there are no good role models for guys, so the ones from my generation and younger grow up with stupid ideas of how to act in a relationship and how to treat women. Yes there are some decent guys out there, but it seems I should know more of those types of guys than the bad types of guys. And I don't.
Oh well. I'm spending the next few months on my book and don't have time to worry about the idiot guys I know, or don't really know.
some progress on the book
I finished a final draft of my book proposal yesterday and sent it out to the editors I worked with in Banff. Hopefully I'll get some feedback and I decided to send my proposal out to literary agents from Abu Dhabi. That's got to get some attention, I don't imagine most agents get a fed ex from the middle east...
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
charlie's angels
On Friday Clo, Cam and I went to the Denver Art Museum to see this new photography exhibit.
Clo came to my house and we walked to Cam's work. I was feeling a bit embarrassed as we walked to the museum because Clo and Cam were wearing cute outfits and I was wearing the same stupid stuff I always wear. I was trying to remember from the movie which one of the charlie's angels was the poorly dressed geek, but actually I think there wasn't a poorly dressed geek in that movie except for Bill Murray.
We got to meet this famous photographer named Owen who had a picture in the show. He and Clo started talking about photo paper and printing pics and stuff so Cam and I walked around looking at the pictures. There were some really cool photos, my favorite being a pic taken by an Iranian woman. It's the soles of the woman's feet (which is interesting since showing the sole of your feet in Islam is considered an insult because they are unclean) with a farsi poem written over the feet. Between the feet, although it wasn't immediately obvious, was the barrel of a gun.
Then we went to the reception to have some crackers and water (the spread for this show opening was a little sparse). A guy who had been following Clo around all night finally came over to our table (it was funny watching him do five walk bys before he came over). His name is Andy and he sells windows. I had a geek moment when I told him about my new windows, and we discussed argon gas. Clo was looking at me like "oh god, make her stop". Andy even said he had never met someone so excited about new windows.
Then we talked about a bunch of things ranging from the hadron collider to how to make a candle and Clo's grandfather to motorcycle racing. I thought she had a great observation, which was about how her grandfather used to take her everywhere even though in her culture it wasn't normal for little girls to be treated like boys. She said that because of that she always thought of herself as Clo, not "a girl". That's how I feel too. I hate it when people stereotype me because I'm a female.
Andy said he had never met such an interesting and accomplished group of women. Clo pointed out that we are all in good shape and could, between us, take on any physical challenge. Then Cam said we are all so smart that we could solve any problem with the intellectual capital between the three of us. Then I said "and, we could take over any third world country we wanted". There was a pause in the conversation. I don't know how I manage to say inappropriate things as often as I do.
Andy gave Clo his card. I have to find out if she called him...
Clo came to my house and we walked to Cam's work. I was feeling a bit embarrassed as we walked to the museum because Clo and Cam were wearing cute outfits and I was wearing the same stupid stuff I always wear. I was trying to remember from the movie which one of the charlie's angels was the poorly dressed geek, but actually I think there wasn't a poorly dressed geek in that movie except for Bill Murray.
We got to meet this famous photographer named Owen who had a picture in the show. He and Clo started talking about photo paper and printing pics and stuff so Cam and I walked around looking at the pictures. There were some really cool photos, my favorite being a pic taken by an Iranian woman. It's the soles of the woman's feet (which is interesting since showing the sole of your feet in Islam is considered an insult because they are unclean) with a farsi poem written over the feet. Between the feet, although it wasn't immediately obvious, was the barrel of a gun.
Then we went to the reception to have some crackers and water (the spread for this show opening was a little sparse). A guy who had been following Clo around all night finally came over to our table (it was funny watching him do five walk bys before he came over). His name is Andy and he sells windows. I had a geek moment when I told him about my new windows, and we discussed argon gas. Clo was looking at me like "oh god, make her stop". Andy even said he had never met someone so excited about new windows.
Then we talked about a bunch of things ranging from the hadron collider to how to make a candle and Clo's grandfather to motorcycle racing. I thought she had a great observation, which was about how her grandfather used to take her everywhere even though in her culture it wasn't normal for little girls to be treated like boys. She said that because of that she always thought of herself as Clo, not "a girl". That's how I feel too. I hate it when people stereotype me because I'm a female.
Andy said he had never met such an interesting and accomplished group of women. Clo pointed out that we are all in good shape and could, between us, take on any physical challenge. Then Cam said we are all so smart that we could solve any problem with the intellectual capital between the three of us. Then I said "and, we could take over any third world country we wanted". There was a pause in the conversation. I don't know how I manage to say inappropriate things as often as I do.
Andy gave Clo his card. I have to find out if she called him...
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